Sex and the City, Part One: Carrie the Protagonist

Regardless of your opinion of Sex and the City, there is no denying its cultural impact at the turn of the century. This writer happens to love the show and has decided to devote this corner of teh interwebz to discussing the larger themes that made the show unique and quite clever in its prime. I have seen this series many times over and it is time to put that obsessive knowledge to good use. I will be talking about the entire series, one DVD disc at a time. I welcome comments and discussion, provided it is more intelligent and thought-out than "Those women are ugly" and "Sarah Jessica Parker has a horse face." I will delete you so fast you won't even be certain you left a comment. I love this show and have written this column not to convert you; only to celebrate that which I enjoy. This piece covers Season 1, episodes 1-6.

How does a writer draw a casual reader or viewer into the realm of fantasy? How does someone relate to a world in which they will never dwell? They need a character just like them, someone to whom they can relate. They need a sympathetic protagonist. A relatable main character is the single most important facet of good fantasy. And Sex and the City is good fantasy. This is a series set in a fantasy version of New York; a world of clubs, clothes and wealthy men likely to never be experienced first-hand by the show’s legion of fans. This world could be off-putting due to the very nature of its inaccessibility and decadence. Carrie Bradshaw spends on a pair of shoes what some spend on a month’s rent. Yet women consistently rank her as the character most like them. This dichotomy is arguably the reason for the show’s success. The balance Carrie manages between fairy tale lifestyle and audience surrogate is the key to this particular fantasy’s popularity.

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